Parenting in the middle of the night

 As a parent there are so many joys you experience with your children. You see how happy they are and it fills your soul. You also have to handle a lot of different situations and make decisions about them. For example, our kids wanted to slide down the stairs on the mattresses (which we let them do for a few minutes), and they also sometimes pick something that is clearly too dangerous and we have to think about it and tell them know. 

However, something that is interesting is you have to be ready to be a parent at any time, even in the middle of the night. In fact, often in the middle of the night is when your child needs you to be ready to parent at any moment. Two nights ago, Shantel and I both woke up to Lucy crying (which is quite normal), and she went to check on her, realized she was throwing up and ran her to the bathroom to throw up in the toilet. Last night, Austin came in around 3 am with no clothes on and was super cold. He had an accident and could not find new jammies. I helped him get new clothes on, then pulled out the trundle, moved his pillow and blankets down and got him warmed up under his blankets. Then I pulled off the dirty sheets and took them to the laundry room. 

Things like this are super common, at least once a week and often multiple times a week, Shantel and I are required to handle something in the night. Here are a few others that require quick thinking: Ear infections, sore throats, stomach flu, leg aches, cold kids, poopy diapers, plus more. 

All of these things require you go to sleeping to decision making parent in just a few seconds. You have to understand if the cry you hear is a child who needs immediate help or if you should let them cry for a minute and go back to sleep. You have to be able to be asleep and then listen to your child talking, understand what they need and be able to help right away. You have to assess the situation and act quickly to help. It is truly a skill that you develop as a parent. 

You might ask then, why am I writing this post? Well, look at that picture above, Austin, is all snuggled tight in his bed and he is warm and happy. There is so much joy that comes from being there to help your child when they truly need it, and in the middle of the night, they truly need it. I'm grateful to have our children and that we can be there to listen to them, and help them and support them. 

I'm also grateful because I feel like Shantel and I take a pretty equal load of being on call. Sometimes she hears it and goes to help, sometimes I do. Sometimes the child comes to my side of the bed to ask for help and sometimes to her side. Often with sick kids we might take it in shifts so we both get a little sleep. Parenting is a 24 hour job and I'm grateful for it, even when it means climbing out of my warm bed at 3 am to help Austin get clothes and get warm.